“I fly to land” – A bit of introspection
The title of this post are not my words, but those of Sylvia, the pilot and writer behing Fear Of Landing. This is the kind of sentences I regret not to have found it myself. So kudos to Sylvia for these words, and for sharing the reasons behind her flying. She set up this great post, asking pilots why they fly. I strongly encourage you to visit it and leave a comment.
It’s somehow hard to admit it, but I consider myself like an average aviator and a good pilot. Sounds fuzzy ? I have more fun working the systems – on board, but also ATC and weather – than flying the aircraft. My stick and rudder skills are average-ish, I’m not particularly talented at that. What I’m good at, and where I get my pleasure from when finishing a flight, is to manage the whole thing, smoothly. I like when plans unfold as planned, when I use the on-board systems to their best, be it flying manually or with the automatics. This is certainly the reason why I like complex aircraft and fly IFR.
When the time came to establish a plan for the money I had before me, earlier this year, there were two options: renew my ratings in a DA40 with G1000 or an Arrow and then fly some hours, or get my Multi-Engine rating. Getting the multi-engine rating meant no flying after the training and checkride, because of my limited budget. I went for the Multi-Engine rating in a DA42 Twinstar. Because this was learning something new, adding to the complexity. For this training, I flew with a new instructor. He made some compliments about the very systematic way I was handling the aircraft, and working in the cockpit. I thanked my primary flight and instrument instructor for that. My new instructor did not say a word about my flying skills.
When I landed after my initial Instrument Rating skill test (for US readers, read checkride), the examiner told me: “You don’t like to fly. You like to manage the systems”. This left me speechless for a second. How could this guy grasp such a good understanding of myself within a couple of hours ? After this flight, I often had the opportunity to fly in the right hand seat of other pilots, and it was a great experience. One can learn a lot from that, about flying but also about the pilot in command. What he likes, what he like less, what are his strengths and weaknesses. In this sense, cockpits are places of truth.
Since then, I never miss the opportunity to fly with other pilots, whatever the seating plan is.
7 Comments, Comment or Ping
pat
So I think I’m the exact opposite as you
I love to fly simple, “technical” aircrafts, I mean old tail-draggers.
I enjoy practicing landing accuracy, gliging approaches, and just wandering around over the north-western coast of France.
That’s OK because I’m only a sunday pilot and glass-cockpit aircrafts are too expensive to me, and not available where I fly.
I can’t really say I take any pleasure in managing the systems on my flight simulator either.
What I really love is actually the fun of flying, feel the aircraft at the tip of my fingers and play with it.
Dec 23rd, 2009
Mark
Interesting how different we all are.. for me it’s twofold: escapism, and stick and rudder flying..
Escapism in that when engaged in flying, there’s no room for the petty things that otherwise occupy the waking mind; the background chatter of everyday life falls away – it really is a case of “slipping the surly bonds”..
Like Pat, I gravitate to ’simple’ aircraft that require piloting, and also aeros. Nailing that vertical line, the perfect sideslip approach kicked off just before the wheels touch.. satisfaction! I also gravitate to old school instructors, probably for the same reason. The fleet I did most of my hours on had 430’s onboard, yet I nav by watch and compass – To cross 100’s of km of australian outback the old fashioned way, and pop out on target.. that’s satisfying too.
Different strokes I guess.. but one thing’s certain, I have to fly, and fly frequently.. otherwise I start to get withdrawl
Happy Christmas!
Dec 24th, 2009
Sylvia
I know what you mean about managing the systems but I agree there’s also something about hand-flying … as Mark puts it, stick and rudder.
I think it can be very interesting (but also very frustrating) to fly with other pilots. I think it’s something I should do more often.
Dec 29th, 2009
Julien
This is exactly the dilemma I’m facing at the moment: what next? Instrument rating or tailwheel and airbatics? I’m leaning towards the stick and rudder side at the moment.
Jan 6th, 2010
Vincent
@Julien: I knew a guy in Geneva who used to own a Mousquetaire, tail-wheel, with skis, with a turbo engine, able to climb to FL210, with IFR equipment. However, I’m not sure about sure about aerobatics.
Jan 6th, 2010
Julien
@Vincent: you don’t happen to still have that guy’s phone number, do you?
Jan 15th, 2010
Vincent
@Julien: the aircraft was registered as HB-SFO, but it is no longer having this tail number. If someone has a good registration tracker, I’d like to know where it is now.
Jan 15th, 2010
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